The End of Vacation
by MeilinII
Summary: A oneshot, written for a fanfic competition. Details inside.


Meilin: Okay, to tell everyone, I wrote this for a fiction contest, and it's the final version. Please, be kind!

Sasuke: Here are the specifics, so you don't get confused.

**The Lowdown:  
**Participants will write a one-shot (aka, one-chapter) story that will be, of course, Kingdom Hearts related. The fic must follow the rules below.

**The Rules:**  
1) You must choose one of these two: KH2 OPENING and KH2 ENDING  
2) You must then write a one-shot based on the topic you pick. You may do it from your standpoint or from the POV of one of the participating characters.  
3) Be creative!

**The Theme:**  
Kingdom Hearts II's opening and Kingdom Hearts II's ending.

Meilin: I chose to start mine with the KH2 opening where Sora, Riku and Kairi are holding hands. There are also references to the first Kingdom Hearts.

Sasuke: It's confusing as hell.

Meilin: Hey! -_cries_- That's not nice... It's supposed to be confusing until the end!

Sasuke: Fine, fine. I suppose you're assuming the judges have all made it past the four-hour tutorial?

Meilin: Yep.

Please read and enjoy. I love reviewers!

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Sora awoke from the strange dream lying on the warm sands, holding his two best friends to him as though without them he would sink into the abyss. He broke his handclasp with the girl and rubbed his eyes. The dawn was blinding, reflecting off the low tide onto the beach. Sora's movement and the sudden lack of warmth from his hand stirred her awake. "G'morning, Sleepy-head." She mumbled.

"Morning, K-... Good morning." How odd. He'd momentarily forgotten her name. Oh well, it'd come back to him eventually.

The noise woke Riku, who yawned slightly as he stretched like a feline and smiled at the two. "Hey guys. Guess we fell asleep on the island again, huh?" the silver-haired boy said as he rolled his eyes at the dumbfounded Sora. "Let's get going, our parents will be worried."

She jumped to her feet. "Oh, yeah! Mom'll freak if she finds out I fell asleep with you two again!!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sora asked accusingly.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "That your _boys_." She said, as though it was obvious why her mother would be concerned. "See you." She said, dashing to her boat.

Riku laughed at Sora's confusion. The brunette glared at his older friend. "What?"

"I'll explain it to you when you're older." The light-haired boy chuckled.

"Rikuuuuuuuuuuuu!" he whined, "Tell me!"

The taller youth just laughed and began untying the small skiff he used to get from island to island. Sora huffed and began to untie his own boat, grumbling all the while about secrets. He stopped suddenly and glanced at his friend. "Riku? We... Never left the island. Right?" he asked out of nowhere. It almost seemed like his world flickered for a moment.

Riku just blinked. "What, are you sick or something? Of course not, why?"

Sora turned red. "Nothing, just a dream." He mumbled halfheartedly as they launched the boats to sail home.

To bad the dream never went away. Broken pieces of story would float around Sora's head in sleep, memories induced by what was truly happening to him. At times, they would float around when he was 'awake,' giving his friends the distinct impression he was ill.

Days later, once again on the island with his two best friends, he again forgot her name. It occurred to him that he'd never heard it used since he'd awoken on the beach. He had decided it was just him being unobservant when Riku interrupted his thoughts. "Sora!"

"Huh, what?"

"I asked you where you think we'll go, now that the raft is ready?"

Sora shrugged. "Wherever it'll take us, I guess."

"Do you think we'll find Ka-'s hometown?"

Sora blinked. What on earth...? "What?"

"Is said, do you think we'll find her hometown? Honestly, Sora, get your ears checked."

Sora ignored the remark. "Maybe." He caught Riku's look. "Hey, how'm I supposed to know?!"

Riku shrugged, content with the explanation. The girl smiled and shifted her weight slightly on the paopu tree. Sora stared at her. For a second, it seemed, she'd shimmered and disappeared. He dismissed it as a trick of the setting sun. "I can't wait. For tomorrow, I mean." She said. "Once we set sail, it'll be great."

Déjà vu overcame Sora. "Don't jinx it." He muttered.

Riku looked surprised. "Seriously, Sora, what's _with_ you lately? You're not acting like yourself."

Sora shook his head. "Nothing, I'm just tired. See you at the launch tomorrow..." he mumbled as he jumped from the island to his boat. Then he went home to sleep, to avoid fatigue at sea.

He woke up later that night, just before dawn, when the islands were at their darkest. He shoved the heavy blankets off him and glanced out the window. "A storm?" he wondered. He glanced about his toy filled room. Then it hit him. "Oh no, the raft!"

He quickly threw on his clothes and dashed down the stairs. He ran towards the beach, past rows of identical houses and the town hall; past the schoolhouse and to the docks, where he untied his boat and began to paddle the short distance to the other island. His arms had long grown used to the strain, but the speed with which Sora forced himself to reach the island strained his muscles and left them aching as he reached the dock. 'Riku's boat, and Kai-'s! I've got to hurry!' he thought as he ran down the beach. He caught sight of silver hair going through the door to the cove. "Riku!" he called as he jumped up the incline to the door.

The other boy glanced back. "Hurry up Sora! She's waiting for us!" he called over the sounds of rain and thunder.

Sora tried his best to catch up with his friend, pushing his already tired body to the limit as they hopped over the broken bridge; but his rushing and the rain caused him to slip, and he found himself barely hanging onto the bridge as the flood-level waters ate at the old support beams. "Riku!" he screamed in a panic.

The older boy turned and rushed back to the brunette. "Grab on, Sora!" he said as he grabbed his friend's wrist. Together they got Sora back onto the bridge. "Thanks, Riku." he panted as they got to the opposite shore.

"Anytime. C'mon!" he called. They bypassed the zipline -it was too dangerous to try to get up the ladder- and found her holding the raft in the inlet. "Hurry up guys, before it comes back!" she called.

Riku grabbed the raft's rope and nodded. "Jump on!"

The three scrambled on, and –securing ropes untied- paddled off the island, away from the storm. Ten minutes later, light could be seen in the distance and 'it' had appeared above the isle. "No! The Island!" Riku yelled.

She screamed. Darkside could be seen, a pitch black figure in a sea of muted green and gray, ripping up trees and houses alike and tossing them to the unlimited orb of darkness above the island. She cried out as the monster moved on to their homes on the opposite island. Tears stained her cheeks scarlet as the three finally broke free of the storm.

Sora wrapped his arms protectively around her. "It'll be okay, don't worry. At least the three of us are all right."

Riku held onto the mast, nodding. "That's right, just think positive Kai-."

She sniffed and nodded. "That's right. Thanks, Sora."

Waves occasionally sloshed onto the raft, making it slippery and difficult to move around on, but they paddled on, regardless. It wasn't long before they had paddled far enough away that they could no longer see the remains of their lost island, and only then did they stop paddling and rest.

"Time for a break..." Sora mumbled to himself. He let out a breath of relief and flopped back onto the damp floor, content to let the current move them for now. Riku must've agreed, because he tied down their oars. Then he, too, laid on the raft, arms aching from paddling.

She stood up, hands on her hips over them. "Hey! Lazybones, what're we stopping for? It hasn't even been a full hour yet!"

Sora shrugged. "We don't want to waste all our energy now. We'll be exhausted when we really need it!"

She nodded, but kept walking circles around the two boys. "Why are you so fidgety, Kair-?" Riku wondered.

"I just can't wait to be as far away from that nightmare as possible." She said, continuing to pace. Another swell soaked Sora with water, causing him to sit up just as she slipped and fell, sliding off the raft into the current. "Kair-!" Riku yelled as Sora dived in after the red-headed girl. Shocked from the fall, not to mention caught in the undertow, she was sinking fast. Sora made a grab for her, only catching her thyasa shell bracelet at first. He finally got a hold on her wrist and pulled her to his chest, the broken bracelet still in his hand, sharp edges of shell embedded in his glove. He started kicking for the surface, his lungs burning for air. Once he reached it, he barely had time to shove her into Riku's waiting arms before he was under again, lungs screaming for air and muscles beginning to give out. Shells floated off the bracelet one by one as he was pulled down, devoid of the energy needed to escape the current. In his mind's eye he remembered her clearly for the first time. Her name escaped as bubbles from his lips. 'Kairi...' The water around him grew darker; as he felt it begin to end, he heard a voice.

"Sora... You're lucky. I guess my summer vacation is... Over."

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Meilin: Yes, this is pretty much a dream sequence. I wanted to explore what it must've been like for Sora when his memory was being put back together, what he would feel.

If you noticed, I deliberately used Kairi's name more and more as I went on, and didn't REALLY use the full name until the end. This ties into what Naminé said at the end of Chain of Memories, that she was what would bring his memories back; or something like that.

I worked REALLY hard on this, and I think it's one of my greatest pieces of short work yet, so please leave a review!


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